Skaters like Amy Gordon used to have the run of the world’s best roller rinks right in New York City — places such as the Roxy in Chelsea, known as the Studio 54 of rinks for its sexy roller-disco nights. But the Roxy and others of its ilk were closed by seven years ago. Gordon’s been looking for a place to show off her moves ever since.
Last Friday, the 42-year-old Greenpoint resident was in the center of a rink in Prospect Park, with 100 other skaters watching her gyrate to Prince’s “Kiss” in red sequined shorts.
Before the night was over, she had a new favorite place to skate: the weekly Dreamland roller disco party at the LeFrak Center. Nowhere else in the city, Gordon says, is there a place to skate “on a summer night with a full moon.”
The new LeFrak Center at Lakeside opened as an ice rink last winter and was converted into a 16,000-square-foot roller rink for the warmer weather.
The vibe at Dreamland is less Roxy and more Coney Island. That’s where Lola Star (real name Dianna Carlin), who runs it, came up with the idea. Having run the Lola Star boutique on the Coney boardwalk, she opened a roller disco in the old Childs building on the boardwalk until building owners gave her the boot in 2010.
“I thought to myself that I will never find a place with that kind of magic,” Star said the other day, wearing pink leg warmers and custom-made white skates with her name on them. As she skated, her wheels glowed with LED lights.
“But look at this,” she said, gesturing toward the lush trees in the surrounding park. The lights had just dimmed as the sun set outside; on the rink, dancers spun light-up hula hoops over their heads.
“Much of the person I am today was formed in a roller rink in the ’80s,” the Detroit native says.
A lot of skaters, like Sammy Franco, 26, frequent Crazy Legs, a roller disco night held at a Salvation Army building in Bed-Stuy.
“But this is the best spot now,” the Chelsea resident says. “You got the best DJ, you got the wide-open dance floor. They’ve got sequins, hula hoops, high socks, pretty girls, pretty guys.”
Admission costs $15 with skate rental, and the theme will change every week through Aug. 29. The opening-night theme was “Flashdance,” where a DJ spun ’80s dance tunes from the likes of ABBA and the Sugarhill Gang as skaters took to the rink in aerobics gear and side ponytails. Friday’s theme is “Xanadu,” with ’70s tunes and glitter. Still to come: Material Girl (’80s girl pop), Wipe Out (surf music) and “Saturday Night Fever” (self-explanatory).
Midwood resident Alana Bassit has no memory of the ’80s.
“I just Googled some pictures because I had no idea what an ’80s-themed party is like,” the 29-year-old says, showing off the pink tutu, purple stockings and leg warmers she bought at Party City.
But she does love skating. She and her date, Dane Ramsook, plan to be regulars at Dreamland.
“It’s a good look for Brooklyn,” he says. Then, hand in hand, they head back to the rink for a couples’ skate.